Myneeku’la tried pulling her arm out of her stepfather’s grip, but it was no use. She was only nine, barely four feet tall, all knees and elbows, and he was a butcher who spent all day chopping up meat that went to the better parts of Tawnytown. “Let me go!” she hissed at him. She knew better than to scream out or call for help; in this part of town, everyone had their own problems, and she didn’t want to get another black eye; the previous one had barely healed.
“Not a chance!” Eto hissed back, still dragging her seemingly without any effort or recognition of her attempts at escaping. “You had your chance, you ungrateful brat, and now you’ll spend the night in the box! Or maybe I’ll sell you to one of the outbound ships and just tell your mom you ran away, as you’ve done before. How’s that sound, Myneeku?”
“It’s Myneeku’la!” she almost shouted, trying to dig her heels in but unable to gain traction with the heels of her boots worn down to nearly nothing.
“Not anymore,” Eto snorted. “Your dad is gone, little girl, and it’s time you started accepting that. Hells, if it was up to me we’d change your name to just Myne, seeing as you shouldn’t go around using the honorific of being Eku’s daughter. But last time I brought it up, your mom cried, and I can’t stand to listen to her sniveling. It’s bad enough I gotta put up with it from you.” As he pulled her around the back of the house, not one neighbor called out or even bothered to look in their direction.
Changing tactics, as she had no desire to spend yet another night in the box, Myneeku’la told Eto, “All right, all right, I’ll do the dishes! I’m sorry I said I wouldn’t, I’m just so tired!”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word, brat! I work all day to provide a place to live and food on the table, as does your mother at night, while you just have to put on airs and do all that learning! Why your dad paid for you to learn how to read, write, and do math is beyond me; if I could somehow cancel the schooling and get that money back, I’d put it to better use than that for sure!”
“Like paying for more dreamweed,” Myneeku’la muttered, but apparently not quietly enough. Eto stopped dragging her and pulled her up by her arm until she was afraid it going to come right out. “Please, you’re hurting me!” she said, ashamed of the tears in her eyes. Showing weakness around him was never a good thing.
“What do you know about that?” he hissed in her face, the cheap whisky on his breath making her eyes burn.
“All the neighbor kids talk about how you smuggle dreamweed in for your rich clients, putting it in their cuts of meat; they say you use the box you’re dragging me to right now to hide it in when patrols come by until you can give them their cute; they also say it’s the only reason we have such a nice house in one of the shittier parts of Tawnytown.”
“I was born in Butcher Bay, same as my father and his father before him, you ungrateful little shit,” Eto shook her like a rag doll. Not crying out took all her self-control, but she managed to do it. “So, the neighbor kids talk, eh? Must be their nosy parents filling their impressionable heads with lies.” He began dragging her again, which was a relief on her aching shoulder. “What else do they say, hmm? And don’t lie to me, girl: I’ll know.”
“They say that you don’t use it, since your eyes are never bloodshot, and your nose never bleeds. But they also say it has a unique smell, like musky seaweed, and I have noticed that every week or so you do smell like that for a couple of days.”
“Are you spying on me?” Eto snarled, but his heart wasn’t in it, barely giving her arm a firm tug. They walked for a few more seconds before he resumed talking. “Yes, using dreamweed does do those things, and people can get addicted to the feelings it creates in you, which is why I’ve never touched the stuff. Good old rotgut is alright by me.”
He stopped and looked down at her. “But I want you to think long and hard about what it would do if you snitched on me to either your mom or to patrols. Like your friends said, I do have some patrols that I pay off to ensure their silence, and they wouldn’t appreciate their bonus pay being cut off. Plus, your mom would have to stop being a midwife if I was locked up and get a real job. And at her age, she’d probably end up a ragpicker or dishwasher. Is that what you want, your mom being worn down because you couldn’t keep your damn mouth shut?” All she could do was shake her head no. “I thought not,” Eto snorted again. “But, you did refuse to do the dishes, and you still need to be taught a lesson.”
Myneeku’la almost cried out then, but she knew Eto had no pity in his cold heart. She was terrified of the dark, and tonight there wasn’t even the two moons in the sky to make light once the sun had finished setting. And lamplighters didn’t even bother with this part of town. Once he locked her in his smuggling box, she’d truly be alone in the dark. It wouldn’t be the first night she’d spent there, but never like this. “I’ll be good, I promise! I’ll do the dishes without complaint from now on!” She hated that she was begging him like this, but her hurt pride was better than the alternative.
They’d reached Eto’s smuggling box, and he pulled the key out from a chain he wore around his neck with his right hand. After unlocking the box and tucking the key back away, he looked her in the face. “Now, what kind of father would I be if I didn’t enforce consequences? That’s the only way you’re going to learn.” He smiled at her patronizingly.
She bit her tongue to keep from spitting out, “You’re not my father, and you’re never going to be!” as she knew that the only thing worse than spending the night locked up in the small wooden box was being locked up in the dark with a beating beforehand. Myneeku’la could taste blood, but it was a small price to pay.
Seeing as his provocation didn’t work, Eto stopped pretending to smile and resumed his usual sneer. “Fine, see you in the morning. I’ll let you out before I head to the butcher shop, which should give you just enough time to head to school and not be late. Granted, you’ll be smelly and hungry, but I imagine that’s nothing new for you. After all, you and your mom were on your own for six months before she lucked out on meeting me.” Not giving her a chance to respond, Eto shoved Myneeku’la in the box while she was distracted by his ridiculous interpretation of the events that brought him into their lives. She had just enough time to take one final look at the setting sun before he slammed the box closed and locked it. Whistling to himself, she could hear his footsteps fading away as he walked around the house and back into it.
The box wasn’t completely sealed, so she would have air, but Myneeku’la knew better than to scream out for help or to try and rock the box over. No one would come to her rescue, and if she damaged his precious box she was all too knowledgeable about how Eto would take it out on her. Or worse yet, her mom. The night he’d got drunk and beat her mom unconscious while she huddled in her small room and sobbed would live forever in her memories. “Can’t believe I’m trapped in her, alone again,” she whispered to herself, just to hear some kind of noise that wasn’t her rapid panicked breathing.
But you’re not alone, a husky feminine voice said, and Myneeku’la couldn’t help but shout out in fear before putting her hand over her mouth. With the other trembling hand, she patted all four walls, the roof and the flooring. Just barely enough room for her, there was no one else in there.
“I’ve finally gone crazy,” she muttered to herself.
Not at all, my child, the voice spoke up again, and Myneeku’la realized she wasn’t hearing it with her ears, but somehow within her mind. That’s right little one, the voice said soothingly, and the young girl nearly giggled with fear.
“Are you a daemon, sent to punish wicked little girls?” Myneeku’la asked, throat tight with dread, remembering all the sermons that the churches of Frea, Goddess of the Sun and Gea, Goddess of Life put on once every other week in her neighborhood. They were too poor to have an actual church or temple to either of the two Goddesses.
The only one who needs punishing is your stepfather, the voice snarled, but for now if you like I’ll keep you company all night long so you’re not alone. How does that sound?
Myneeku’la really didn’t want to be alone all night long, trapped here in this small space in the dark. And, since she didn’t have any other options, she agreed. “That would be nice. But, what’s your name?”
You can call me Sheeba, the voice said, and it’s lovely to meet you my dear. I think that you and I shall be good friends. At least, I hope so.
“I’d like that,” Myneeku’la agreed, and she could feel Sheeba’s encouragement.
